UConn’s first downtown Hartford residence hall opens to full...

UConn’s first downtown Hartford residence hall opens to full house, waiting list Chris P. Reilly, president of Lexington Partners, stands outside UConn's first downtown Hartford residence hall at 64 Pratt St. The former office building will welcome its first students in late August. HBJ Photo | Michael Puffer By Michael Puffer July 31, 2026 Demand for the University of Connecticut’s first downtown Hartford residence hall has exceeded expectations, with all 202 beds spoken for weeks before students begin moving in and more than 50 students on a waiting list. Students are scheduled to begin moving into the new residence hall at 64 Pratt St. on Aug. 29, two days before fall classes begin. The $28.9 million public-private redevelopment aims to give Hartford campus students a more traditional residential college experience while bringing hundreds of students into downtown Hartford to support restaurants, retailers and street activity. “We have more applications to live there than we have spots,” said Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for student life and enrollment. “We anticipate that the building will be full when we open for the first day of classes.” ADVERTISEMENT University officials expect the building to house Hartford campus students, with roughly one-third upperclassmen and two-thirds freshmen. Fuerst said students have been drawn to the Hartford campus’ downtown location, access to rail service and proximity to museums, performing arts venues, state government and PeoplesBank Arena. UConn is helping students on the waiting list explore other downtown housing options, including apartments at 525 Main St., where the university leased much of a recently converted office building last year to gauge demand for downtown student housing. A handful of students renewed their leases there. Adding vitality to downtown The project represents years of planning by UConn, developers, the Capital Region Development Authority and Hartford business leaders to establish a residential campus in downtown Hartford. ADVERTISEMENT “The location of that dorm puts a lot of feet on the street, hundreds of feet on the street,” said Andy Bessette, vice chairman of CRDA. “We have activity, we have vibrancy, we have young people walking around.” Bessette is also executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Travelers Cos. and serves on UConn’s Board of Trustees. “We wanted to give these students a true college experience,” Bessette said. Hartford employers, including Travelers and The Hartford, contributed more than $1 million to provide more than 50 students with $3,600 scholarships to help offset the annual housing cost of $12,672. ADVERTISEMENT “What we know about student development is that when you live in a student residential community as a part of your educational program, your rate of success goes up,” Fuerst said. “We ought to ensure that we have talented students that may not be able to afford it.” Fuerst said UConn is also working with Hartford employers to house interns in the residence hall during the summer, helping keep the building occupied year-round. Bessette said Travelers hopes to take advantage of that opportunity. Vacant office becomes student housing The residence hall includes 45 furnished apartments, primarily two- and three-bedroom suites, housing 202 students. UConn signed a master lease for the building, which will operate like a traditional residence hall. 1 of 2 A furnished apartment in UConn's new downtown Hartford residence hall at 64 Pratt St. The atrium and student lounge inside UConn's new residence hall at 64 Pratt St. Apartments include washers and dryers, while residential floors are accessed through a fob-controlled elevator. Because portions of the former office building could not easily be converted into apartments, developers transformed those spaces into study rooms, game rooms, classrooms, multipurpose areas and a fitness center, according to Chris P. Reilly, president of Lexington Partners, the development firm leading the conversion. “We weren’t certain what the reaction was going to be, but we are really happy the university got the reaction they have,” said Reilly. “From the beginning, the focus was on delivering a high-quality building on time for the students,” said Patrick Kenny, a vice president with Lexington Partners. “That took constant coordination between our development team, the construction team, and UConn, with everyone working together to solve problems and keep the project moving. It will feel rewarding to see students calling 64 Pratt home in the next few weeks.” The development partnership includes Lexington Partners, Hartford businessman Alan Lazowski and Brooklyn-based Shelbourne Global Solutions. The City of Hartford approved a 15-year tax-fixing agreement to support the project. As of January, the $28.9 million development budget included a $10.57 million bank loan, a $3 million CRDA loan, a $3 million state grant, a $2 million City of Hartford loan and approximately $3.35 million in owner equity. More to come Three years ago, Shelbourne Global Solutions purchased the 324,000-square-foot mixed-use office complex at 242 Trumbull St., which includes 64 Pratt St. and approximately 30,000 square feet of retail space along Pratt and Trumbull streets. With the residence hall complete, Shelbourne and its partners are turning their attention to converting the remainder of the office complex into apartments. Reilly said preliminary designs call for at least 145 apartments. He expects to seek zoning approvals and additional CRDA financing this fall. Reilly said demand for downtown housing remains strong, noting the roughly 900 center-city apartments in Lexington’s portfolio are about 97% occupied. Lexington is also working with an experiential entertainment business that plans to occupy much of the former Stackpole Moore Tryon retail space at the corner of Pratt and Trumbull streets, leaving about 2,000 square feet of retail space available, Reilly said. “The solution to downtown is multifaceted,” Reilly said. “You have to have active retail on the ground floor. You have to have feet on the street. This building helps solve both of those things with the UConn kids coming in and hopefully this tower being converted, and a healthy mix of retail on the ground floor.” Demand for the University of Connecticut’s first downtown Hartford residence hall has exceeded expectations, with all 202 beds spoken for weeks before students begin moving in and more than 50 students on a waiting list. Students are scheduled to begin moving into the new residence hall at 64 Pratt St. on Aug. 29, two days before fall classes begin. The $28.9 million public-private redevelopment aims to give Hartford campus students a more traditional residential college experience while bringing hundreds of students into downtown Hartford to support restaurants, retailers and street activity. “We have more applications to live there than we have spots,” said Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for student life and enrollment. “We anticipate that the building will be full when we open for the first day of classes.” ADVERTISEMENT University officials expect the building to house Hartford campus students, with roughly one-third upperclassmen and two-thirds freshmen. Fuerst said students have been drawn to the Hartford campus’ downtown location, access to rail service and proximity to museums, performing arts venues, state government and PeoplesBank Arena. UConn is helping students on the waiting list explore other downtown housing options, including apartments at 525 Main St., where the university leased much of a recently converted office building last year to gauge demand for downtown student housing. A handful of students renewed their leases there. Adding vitality to downtown The project represents years of planning by UConn, developers, the Capital Region Development Authority and Hartford business leaders to establish a residential campus in downtown Hartford. ADVERTISEMENT “The location of that dorm puts a lot of feet on the street, hundreds of feet on the street,” said Andy Bessette, vice chairman of CRDA. “We have activity, we have vibrancy, we have young people walking around.” Bessette is also executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Travelers Cos. and serves on UConn’s Board of Trustees. “We wanted to give these students a true college experience,” Bessette said. Hartford employers, including Travelers and The Hartford, contributed more than $1 million to provide more than 50 students with $3,600 scholarships to help offset the annual housing cost of $12,672. ADVERTISEMENT “What we know about student development is that when you live in a student residential community as a part of your educational program, your rate of success goes up,” Fuerst said. “We ought to ensure that we have talented students that may not be able to afford it.” Fuerst said UConn is also working with Hartford employers to house interns in the residence hall during the summer, helping keep the building occupied year-round. Bessette said Travelers hopes to take advantage of that opportunity. Vacant office becomes student housing The residence hall includes 45 furnished apartments, primarily two- and three-bedroom suites, housing 202 students. UConn signed a master lease for the building, which will operate like a traditional residence hall. 1 of 2 A furnished apartment in UConn's new downtown Hartford residence hall at 64 Pratt St. The atrium and student lounge inside UConn's new residence hall at 64 Pratt St. Apartments include washers and dryers, while residential floors are accessed through a fob-controlled elevator. Because portions of the former office building could not easily be converted into apartments, developers transformed those spaces into study rooms, game rooms, classrooms, multipurpose areas and a fitness center, according to Chris P. Reilly, president of Lexington Partners, the development firm leading the conversion. “We weren’t certain what the reaction was going to be, but we are really happy the university got the reaction they have,” said Reilly. “From the beginning, the focus was on delivering a high-quality building on time for the students,” said Patrick Kenny, a vice president with Lexington Partners. “That took constant coordination between our development team, the construction team, and UConn, with everyone working together to solve problems and keep the project moving. It will feel rewarding to see students calling 64 Pratt home in the next few weeks.” The development partnership includes Lexington Partners, Hartford businessman Alan Lazowski and Brooklyn-based Shelbourne Global Solutions. The City of Hartford approved a 15-year tax-fixing agreement to support the project. As of January, the $28.9 million development budget included a $10.57 million bank loan, a $3 million CRDA loan, a $3 million state grant, a $2 million City of Hartford loan and approximately $3.35 million in owner equity. More to come Three years ago, Shelbourne Global Solutions purchased the 324,000-square-foot mixed-use office complex at 242 Trumbull St., which includes 64 Pratt St. and approximately 30,000 square feet of retail space along Pratt and Trumbull streets. With the residence hall complete, Shelbourne and its partners are turning their attention to converting the remainder of the office complex into apartments. Reilly said preliminary designs call for at least 145 apartments. He expects to seek zoning approvals and additional CRDA financing this fall. Reilly said demand for downtown housing remains strong, noting the roughly 900 center-city apartments in Lexington’s portfolio are about 97% occupied. Lexington is also working with an experiential entertainment business that plans to occupy much of the former Stackpole Moore Tryon retail space at the corner of Pratt and Trumbull streets, leaving about 2,000 square feet of retail space available, Reilly said. “The solution to downtown is multifaceted,” Reilly said. “You have to have active retail on the ground floor. You have to have feet on the street. This building helps solve both of those things with the UConn kids coming in and hopefully this tower being converted, and a healthy mix of retail on the ground floor.”